METHOD
finX1 : language
step 1 : choose a text as starting point
step 2 : withing this text find 1. a noun 2. an adjective 3. a verb of crcucial meaning
step 3 : describe each word in 4 synonyms (4 nouns for noun, etc.)
step 4 : repeat to arrive at a set of 16 words
step 5 : set 4 project specific criteria
step 6 : choose from the set of 16 a word to correspond to each one of hte criteria
step 7 : with the 4 chosen words compose a phrase that is grammatically correct, not necessarily logically
step 8 : capture the phrase (haiku) in one word
finX2 : image
like finX1 but with image analysis
finX3 : volume
like finX1 but with volume analysis
finX4 : synthesis
take the results of all exercises and bring them together in one three dimensional model.
See also : http://cab54.christiaanweiler.net/?003/projects-[realised]/
People of the Link @ The Contemporary Jewish Museum 2010Estee Solomon Gray
LINK series Lecture titled "People of the Book, People of the Link" given by Estee Solomon Gray at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, May 13 2010
Presentation on project 6 by architects REX and the master planing of archipelago 21 my Daniel Libeskind. In yongsan business distrcit seouls.
http://www.greenarchworld.com/
People of the Link @ The Contemporary Jewish Museum 2010Estee Solomon Gray
LINK series Lecture titled "People of the Book, People of the Link" given by Estee Solomon Gray at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, May 13 2010
Presentation on project 6 by architects REX and the master planing of archipelago 21 my Daniel Libeskind. In yongsan business distrcit seouls.
http://www.greenarchworld.com/
Digital transformation at_jewish_museum_berlin_#wam15Dr. Mirjam Wenzel
Presentation of the Digital Transformation Process at the Jewish Museum Berlin by Dr. Mirjam Wenzel, Head of Media, for the Conference "We are Museums" (1 and 2 June 2015 at the Academy of the Jewish Museum Berlin).
A written summary of the process can be found at http://www.jmberlin.de/blog-en/2015/06/online-platform/
I worked with a group at a ten-day architectural workshop by the Architectural Association, to develop a concept installation using everyday an object - in this case, chopsticks. We conceptualized an art pavilion in the middle of an open plaza to pique attention of people passing by.
Daniel Libeskind es un arquitecto de símbolos, los usa para generar sensaciones en las personas, como es el caso del museo Judío de Berlín en donde el espacio habla por si mismo de la historia judía, con un pasado tortuoso pero con futuro lleno de esperanza, invitándonos a la reflexión sobre la vida judía en la segunda guerra mundial.
how to make architecture graduation project Eman Ateek
Its a presentation made by me for architecture senior year students about how to get a concept to your project , how to start your drawing , tricks and tips about how to manage the project .
all in highlight titles .
Visualising Boundaries between Architecture and Graphic Design - MA ThesisPlan-B Studio
I have included a copy of my MA thesis and final major project. Please note that the thesis is missing images and might have page number issues - I lost all original files(!)
Presentation delivered in the Workshop on Art and Architecture. Second Annual SHARE Conference London, 11-12 May 2012. Hosted by CCW Graduate School, University of the Arts London. More information at:http://arc.housing.salle.url.edu/share_workshop_transdisciplinarity/
A preliminary discussion about Deconstructivist style in Architecture, to support Architectural Thesis " The Forum - Design Museum".
This theory was initiated by French Philosopher Jacques Derrida.
Digital transformation at_jewish_museum_berlin_#wam15Dr. Mirjam Wenzel
Presentation of the Digital Transformation Process at the Jewish Museum Berlin by Dr. Mirjam Wenzel, Head of Media, for the Conference "We are Museums" (1 and 2 June 2015 at the Academy of the Jewish Museum Berlin).
A written summary of the process can be found at http://www.jmberlin.de/blog-en/2015/06/online-platform/
I worked with a group at a ten-day architectural workshop by the Architectural Association, to develop a concept installation using everyday an object - in this case, chopsticks. We conceptualized an art pavilion in the middle of an open plaza to pique attention of people passing by.
Daniel Libeskind es un arquitecto de símbolos, los usa para generar sensaciones en las personas, como es el caso del museo Judío de Berlín en donde el espacio habla por si mismo de la historia judía, con un pasado tortuoso pero con futuro lleno de esperanza, invitándonos a la reflexión sobre la vida judía en la segunda guerra mundial.
how to make architecture graduation project Eman Ateek
Its a presentation made by me for architecture senior year students about how to get a concept to your project , how to start your drawing , tricks and tips about how to manage the project .
all in highlight titles .
Visualising Boundaries between Architecture and Graphic Design - MA ThesisPlan-B Studio
I have included a copy of my MA thesis and final major project. Please note that the thesis is missing images and might have page number issues - I lost all original files(!)
Presentation delivered in the Workshop on Art and Architecture. Second Annual SHARE Conference London, 11-12 May 2012. Hosted by CCW Graduate School, University of the Arts London. More information at:http://arc.housing.salle.url.edu/share_workshop_transdisciplinarity/
A preliminary discussion about Deconstructivist style in Architecture, to support Architectural Thesis " The Forum - Design Museum".
This theory was initiated by French Philosopher Jacques Derrida.
The new Wonderland magazine Activate & Involve presents how young architects and planners in Europe are engaging to their cities today. The Project Space cooperative planning workshop in different cities are presented together with the work done by young offices. Enjoy the reading!
This is an exercise on unfolding especial dimensions of Urbanism. In this exercise, we explore SKILLS, TOOLS, VALUES, KNOWLEDGE and VALUES of the URBANIST, suing mind mapping techniques to discuss and expand our ideas.
BUS 1 Mini Exam – Chapters 05 – 10 40 Points S.docxhartrobert670
BUS 1
Mini Exam – Chapters 05 – 10
40 Points
Short Answer – Mind your time
Answer four questions from #1 - #6. Must answer #3 and #6. Answer
the XC question for extra credit. Question point count weighted equally.
It is all about business, so make sure to demonstrate / synthesize the bigger picture of business in each and
every answer.
Like all essays, specifying an exacting target word count is rather problematic. I am thinking each answer
would be about 250 - 300 words each, depending upon writing style. If you tend to be descriptive and whatnot,
that number could be 350 - 450 words.
Sidebar: Gauge your knowledge level in this way. This exam should take about 90 – 120 minutes to complete.
Students taking much longer may want to work with me to assess / discuss ways to help master this material in
a future conference session.
1. Although most new firms start out as sole proprietorships, few large firms are organized this way. Why
is the sole proprietorship such a popular form of ownership for new firms? What features of the sole
proprietorship make it unattractive to growing firms?
2. List and discuss at least three causes of small business failure. Workarounds, fixes, or methods to avoid
failure should be discussed.
3. Describe three different leadership styles and give an example of a situation in which each style could be
most used effectively.
4. Discuss Max Weber's views on organization theory. Is there a few principles that particularly resonate
in business today?
5. How has the emphasis of quality control changed in recent years? Describe some of the modern quality
control techniques that illustrate this change in emphasis.
6. Explain how managers could motivate employees by using the principles outlined in expectancy
theory? Create a story/example of expectancy theory at work, incorporating the three questions that
according to expectancy theory employees will ask.
7. XC – What is selective perception? Can you describe a business-centric scenario where selective
perception may hinder a businessperson’s ability to respond to a customer need?
I
Fireworks, Manifesto, 1974.
The Architectural Paradox
1. Most people concerned with architecture feel some sort
of disillusion and dismay. None of the early utopian ideals
of the twentieth century has materialized! none of its social
aims has succeeded. Blurred by reality! the ideals have turned
into redevelopment nightmares and the aims into bureau
cratic policies. The split between social reality and utopian
dream has been total! the gap between economic constraints
and the illusion of all-solving technique absolute. Pointed
Space
out by critics who knew the limits of architectural remedies,
this historical split has now been bypassed by attempts to
reformulate the concepts of architecture. In the process, a
new split appears. More complex, it is not the symptom of
prof ...
1 TABLOID TRANSPARENCY, OR, LOOKING THROUGH LEGIBILITY, .docxdorishigh
1
TABLOID TRANSPARENCY, OR, LOOKING THROUGH LEGIBILITY, ABSTRACTION,
AND THE DISCIPLINE OF ARCHITECTURE
Andrew Zago and Todd Gannon
Architecture can only be political, that is, contribute to the production of another world,
by being relentlessly attentive to its own discipline.
- R.E. Somol
Contemporary architecture is in the throes of an unprecedented expansion of practice types, areas
of expertise, and topics of interest. Though similar proliferations of specialized niches have
occurred in fields ranging from engineering to music, architecture’s unique responsibilities to
society as both a service profession and a cultural discipline have produced more, and more
problematic, internal divergences than in other fields. Today, one is more likely to speak of the
concerns of “sustainability architects,” “interior architects,” or “healthcare architects,” than to
speak of the concerns of the field as a whole. Indeed, articulating such overarching concerns has
become increasingly challenging, just as constructing productive conversations between
architecture’s internal specializations has become more difficult.
At issue in any discussion of nascent tendencies within architecture is the status of the
field’s conventions of communication, its habits of speech, its discourse. The difficulty of
communicating disciplinary concerns to popular audiences is well known. Less often considered
is the difficulty of communication within the field, which often suffers from a similar lack of
linguistic common ground. Failing to recognize important shades of meaning in familiar terms,
members of specialized sub-groups in architecture —both established and emerging ones—often
fail to recognize, and thus to understand and respect, the contrasting ambitions, roles, and
responsibilities of architecture’s varied specializations. In short, many architects today simply do
2
not speak the same language. What follows is an attempt to clarify some basic terminological
distinctions in architecture, to outline some of the field’s generally accepted and less often
acknowledged responsibilities to society, and to sketch the contours of a few promising
developments in architecture’s recent contributions to culture.
Discourse Communities
Fields of cultural production, like all social groups, develop unique vocabularies to articulate
shared ambitions, to identify novel forms that emerge as the field progresses, and, perhaps most
importantly, to signal an individual’s membership in that group. When associated with
geographical regions and socio-economic classes, these clusters of linguistic habits are
commonly known as dialects. Think of Swiss-German, Québécois French, or the distinctive
speech patterns of the American South. Social groups defined by shared professional
responsibilities or cultural interests also develop specific dialects, which in many cases are
known (often derisively) by their jargon ...
As a sign system, architecture could be analyzed the way we examine a work of
literature. While group of words arranged syntagmatic could establish an integrated
meaning, elements in a building are systematically configured to form a meaningful
work of architecture. Analogous to words, those architectural elements are symbols
representing meaning which serves as a foundation for an architectural object.
Therefore, as a system of signs, architecture serves as a medium which communicates
relevant and contextual meaning. Occasionally, architects overlook meaning which
lives among the cultural context of the society, or even worse, they neglect the meaning
possessed by signs built in an architectural work. More or less, buildings subsequently
turn into meaningless signs. With the semiology approach of Saussure and Jencks, we
could decipher the formation of meaning possessed by architectural objects from
various standpoints, both denotative and connotative, and through the lens of architect
and user. Thus, we may understand architectural work as a whole, even to its most
fundamental meaning
Similar to finX1.2.3.4 - combined design exercises for meaningful concept development for spatial design (20)
170706 La Cartoucherie, Toulouse THIRD BASE Collective commissionership Christiaan Weiler
The International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC)
XVI Biennial Conference, 'Practicing the commons: Self-governance, cooperation, and institutional change'.
REGIONS and THIRD PLACES - Valuing and Evaluating Creativity for Sustainable ...Christiaan Weiler
In this presentation I will try to put culture and creativity in a specific context, including theoretical references, but concentrating on a practical approach. With outcomes of an action-research project three connected hypothesis are proposed. To complement the otherwise rather limited quantitative data for this relatively new subject, a collaborative methodology is proposed, that will help contextualize the work and directly engage stakeholders in the process.
To stay close to the title of the conference, I will focus on the elements concerning culture and creativity. Giving a purpose to culture and creativity can allow us to concentrate on what it does rather than what it is. The presented research project (still in search of funding...) positions culture in a strategic role for collaborative processes, and proposes the creative stance, as an alternative to the critical stance, for innovative governance and planning development.
Origin of Spaces - Research Brochure - innovative practices for sustainable m...Christiaan Weiler
Organisations from five European countries have joined forces on a three year journey to share existing know-how and explore new practices related to coworking ecosystems. However, as with every journey, the project began with a period of reflection and preparation, an opportunity to learn new work languages, structures and methods: “Where have we come from?”, “Where are we going?”, “What should be taken forward?”. In addition there were specific questions and discussions on the meanings behind our coworking ecosystems themes, namely multidisciplinary coworking, local partnerships, ecological transition, participatory governance and social entrepreneurship. This report provides the history of our preparation for constructing a coworking toolbox. It focuses on the wealth of local background material unearthed by the partners and, by identifying the most relevant points, helps explain how the map to guide our journey began to take shape.
The information you are about to discover will help explain why we believe that coworking and the creation of multidisciplinary creative clusters (also known as ecosystems or the Third Place) provide an innovative approach for European entrepreneurs and professionals to work collaboratively through improved communication and networking, in order to create new economic opportunities and benefit society.
'The Return of REAL SPACE - Co-Authoring Space Planning for Community Resilie...Christiaan Weiler
Introduction
This presentation assesses the historical and contemporary context of architecture, and explores ways to plan space with insight.
Architecture and urbanism are considered as expressions of their time. Indeed, the cultural evolution of architecture is intertwined with the many parallel societal evolutions, as seen in political, economic, social and environmental contexts. Today many of these contexts each show signs of crisis. George Kell of UN Compact summarizes them as follows “..global warming, rising inequalities, social unrest and violence and a fragmenting world order with low trust in governments and business...”, and we should add ‘resource depletion’. Not a simple situation.
In search of answers to these questions, we realise more and more how these difficulties can not be resolved in separate scenarios. We need integral systemic solutions. For example : the environment demands we build more energy efficiently, but it makes for more expensive buildings, without any guarantee that no one will leave a window open. Some suggest to automate everything and build hyper-connected Smart Cities, but where does that leave the inhabitant?
So how can we presume to act and design effectively in this multi-disciplinary systemic situation? There are many sources of inspiration, in design, in managment, etc. The Diversity-Stability issue, from evolutionary biology, describes the resilience of ecosystems by looking at the foodlinks of interdependent species. It finds that communities with a diversity of weak species have more chances to survive predators or disease then ecosystems with few strong species. To put it simply, diversity enhances resilience.
Such parallels can help to change our usual approaches to complex problems. The characteristics of the Diversity-Stability ecosystem, find an echo in the sociological concept called Third Places (not Home and not Work). They are described as having some special traits : they’re inexpensive, they’re easily accessible (by foot), they have regular residents, and are open to visitors, they’re comfortable and provide food and drinks.
In this current near post-welfare and pre-decentralized situation, opportunities must be seized to create the change we need to see. Space is the first condition we share, and spatial planning can enhance resilience and change for communities of confidence. The Third Place concept opens a way to redevelop a meaning for architecture and urbanism, on top of the existing urban landscape.
Our original biotope has become a technotope - a new condition that offers opportunities to be seized, together. The architecture we make there, I call Real-Space :
Community based
Mixed use
Low-tech
Adaptive
The Origin of Spaces, COP21 presentation for the European Union Erasmus+ Christiaan Weiler
151109.cab_er+.PRES.CO21
21st Conference of Parties #cop21
on Climate Change #climateaction
Union Européenne #eu
Erasmus+ Education #erasmusplus
The Origin of Spaces #OOSEU
REMERCIEMENTS
...
ECHELLES SYSTEMIQUES
...
PROJET 'THE ORIGIN OF SPACES'
Le projet The Origin of Spaces est émergé de l'éco-système économique Darwin à Bordeaux. Le groupe Evolution SARL y a crée un tiers-lieu innovateur, regroupant divers activités tertiaires, associatives, culturelles, événementielles et loisirs, sous une bannière de valeurs transversales diverses, dont que l'écologie et l'économie. Certains membres de l'association de locataires Les Darwiniens s'y est rencontré grâce à ces valeurs, et ensemble ont co-écrit le programme sur une base commune : le constat d'une crise multifacette et la quête de pratiques transitionnelles pour inventer des alternatives viables. Dans un espace de 6 denses mois, cinq partenaires avec chacun leur contexte différente, décident de co-écrire un projet, sous la coordination de Jean-Pierre Brossard, Sylvain Barfety, Dunja Vukovic et moi même.
OBJECTIF
L'objectif du projet est de transmettre les meilleures pratiques des cinq tiers-lieux partenaires. Les axes de travail sont organisées autour de cinq thématiques que nous considérons clés à la transition de notre société. Chaque partenaire est en charge d'une thématique : Le coworking multidisciplinaire (LX Factory, Lisbonne), les partenariats locaux (ZAWP, Bilbao), la transition écologique (Darwin, Bordeaux), la gouvernance participative (ROJC, Pula), l'entrepreneuriat social (London Borough of Lewisham).
ORGANISATION
Le projet à une durée de trois ans : Un an de recherche et collecte de pratiques, un an de développement du Toolbox, et un an de tests. Un ensemble de trajets de travail, de rencontres bilatéraux et multilatéraux, crée une chaîne d'actions pour développer le contenu, de développer la Toolbox en ligne, et de tester le produit avec des évaluateurs dans les clients cibles : les acteurs publiques ainsi que privés, et les gestionnaires autant que les usagers de ces espaces.
RECHERCHE
...
Mayaudon / Salon Vivons / CODEFA - la maison individuelle, compacte, (pré)pas...Christiaan Weiler
Presentation d'un projet d'innovation soustenable en architecture pour une rénovation d'un habitat individuel, avec la techologie bois CLT, pour une conférence organisée par CODEFA à Bordeaux.
Presenation of innovative sustainable retrofit residential design, moslty through use of CLT (cross laminated timber) for industry meeting of CODEFA in Bordeaux.
Origin of Spaces - Research Source Book (screen) innovative practices for sus...Christiaan Weiler
Antonio Machado - Campos de Castilla - 1912
"... Caminante, son tus huellas el camino, y nada más; caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Al andar se hace camino, y al volver la vista atrás se ve la senda que nunca se ha de volver a pisar. ...”
1. Preface
It is dawning on many of us that the current pace and direction of society is difficult to keep up for very long. When in the post-world-war period the pursuit of (individual) achievement seemed the key force of collective development, now the nature of the achievement is very much at the heart of our concerns. Sharing and respecting the environment, be it social, capital or natural, must now regain a central position in community management. Simultaneously the means available for this common task are more and more distributed. More than ever must one ask what one can do for the community, rather than what the community can do for us.
If this project can establish the relevance of the multidisciplinary approach to global sustainability, it will be succesful. All participants, and all of their partners, will be dealing with our subject hands on. This means, once again, to break out of conventional silos so that professionals with different expertise can share insights and work side by side for the common goal.
Once the individual participants of the project recognise the shared motivation, the matter can be improved, embodied and disseminated - through the work in progress and the distribution of the results. Everyone will have the occasion to relay the subject in new links with organisations and city councils on local level, bringing together the actors within a common framework. The nature of 'change management' will need the implication of key-stake-holders on a regional level. Developping and distributing tested contents will convince captains of governance and industry to support the agents of the new models. The rich and diverse context of european culture will be a favourable background for innovating community-management with the resilience of a hybrid multi-faceted approach. When we come out with a 'best-practice'-based toolbox, developed on field work, we will be ready to share the expertise, and promote this complementary and crucial frame of innovation.
2. Research Outcomes
This research report is part of the Erasmus + project. It is the result of the initial phase, and concentrates on the task of assessing the existing practices of the five partners. The results of the research is be the basis of the second and final phase - the Toolbox development. The Toolbox is destined to enable other individuals or groups to learn the basics of setting up multidisciplinary social entrepreneur clusters.
Origin of Spaces - Research Source Book (print) - innovative practices for s...Christiaan Weiler
Antonio Machado - Campos de Castilla - 1912
"... Caminante, son tus huellas el camino, y nada más; caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Al andar se hace camino, y al volver la vista atrás se ve la senda que nunca se ha de volver a pisar. ...”
1. Preface
It is dawning on many of us that the current pace and direction of society is difficult to keep up for very long. When in the post-world-war period the pursuit of (individual) achievement seemed the key force of collective development, now the nature of the achievement is very much at the heart of our concerns. Sharing and respecting the environment, be it social, capital or natural, must now regain a central position in community management. Simultaneously the means available for this common task are more and more distributed. More than ever must one ask what one can do for the community, rather than what the community can do for us.
If this project can establish the relevance of the multidisciplinary approach to global sustainability, it will be succesful. All participants, and all of their partners, will be dealing with our subject hands on. This means, once again, to break out of conventional silos so that professionals with different expertise can share insights and work side by side for the common goal.
Once the individual participants of the project recognise the shared motivation, the matter can be improved, embodied and disseminated - through the work in progress and the distribution of the results. Everyone will have the occasion to relay the subject in new links with organisations and city councils on local level, bringing together the actors within a common framework. The nature of 'change management' will need the implication of key-stake-holders on a regional level. Developping and distributing tested contents will convince captains of governance and industry to support the agents of the new models. The rich and diverse context of european culture will be a favourable background for innovating community-management with the resilience of a hybrid multi-faceted approach. When we come out with a 'best-practice'-based toolbox, developed on field work, we will be ready to share the expertise, and promote this complementary and crucial frame of innovation.
2. Research Outcomes
This research report is part of the Erasmus + project. It is the result of the initial phase, and concentrates on the task of assessing the existing practices of the five partners. The results of the research is be the basis of the second and final phase - the Toolbox development. The Toolbox is destined to enable other individuals or groups to learn the basics of setting up multidisciplinary social entrepreneur clusters.
The Origin of Spaces - Project outline - 2014-2017 (french)Christiaan Weiler
The tenants association 'Les Darwiniens' in the Darwin-Ecosystem in Bordeaux - the EU funded action-research project 'The Origin of Spaces' - a comparative study of best transitional practices in 5 european hybrid work spaces, for the development of an open-access cluster-creation Toolbox.
finX1.2.3.4 - combined design exercises for meaningful concept development for spatial design
1. cab42
ARCHITECTURE : STRATEGY, DESIGN
OPDRACHT - Concept and design strategy
OPDRACHTGEVER - Rotterdam Academy of
Architecture and Willem de Kooning Acad-
emy of Arts, Helsinki faculty of Architecture.
REALISATIE - permanently under construction
OPMERKINGEN - Design strategy for third
and forth year students of architecture and
interior, including concepting and elaboration
of given assignment. I N S T R U C T I O N S
INTRODUCTION This brochure explains the teach-
ing method that ended up with the name finX.
In 1997 there was an architecture workshop in
the finnish archipelago, within the frame of the
Coast Wise Europe network (Rotterdam Academy
of Architecture 1996). The method was later
improved over time, and evaluatued in practice.
The method is based on a principle I call ‘concre-
tion’. Concretion is the opposite of abstraction.
Abstraction results by the nature of its quest,
in the loss of specific meaning. At it’s extreme,
something abstract can mean anything. Concre-
tion seeks to (re)produce new meaning by specify-
ing everything that is included within a definition.
Concretion seeks the specific rather than the
generic, the concrete rather than the abstract.
WHAT IS REAL ? In the last century abstraction
was a highly worthy goal for modern artists who
wanted to capture the essence of the things
around them. Mondriaans sequence of the apple
tree is a beautiful example. Designers and archi-
tects soon followed. To free his work from the
style limitations of the preceding era, Mies van
der Rohe designed a pavillon with such minimal
material suggestion that almost nothing but pure
space was left. Le Corbusier took the emerging
Modernist ideology into technology, and the inher-
ent abstraction allowed him to start a mass
production of the minimalist aesthetics of Mod-
ernism. La Ville Radieuse was an extreme result.
Changing the context of a well-defined object
already gave Duchamps urinoir a completely new
brilliance, very different from the original mean-
ing, yet carried by the same object. Context has
since been a fertile soil for editing new meaning.
What is reality, and what is fiction? The anorxic
junkie-model selling brand jeans in a glossy maga-
zine? Or politicians applying film industry to mili-
tary strategy? Inquisitive attitudes rewrote the
dictionaries of our environment, it has become
a hypertext so dense with links that no one can
read it.
The intention of creating, powered by new tech-
nology, has become so much more important than
the dry reality of it, that details and definitions
suffer from underestimation, and the expression
with it. “There’s a huge gap at te moment
between architects and societies. It will keep
getting bigger if architecture, instead of dealing
with its own substance, insists on the schiz-
ophrenical withdrawl of reality through the cre-
ation of abstract contents or the imitation of
exterior subjects.” (Carrilho da Graça in PROTO-
TYPO #001 januari 1999).
DE-CONSTRUCTION / RE-CONSTRUCTION The nine-
ties can be characterised by the conferences
called ‘ANY-…’. The Technical University of Delft
is basing it’s curriculum on a book with a collec-
tion of approximately 200 design approaches. The
Berlage Institute has asked 100 architects how
they see the future of architecture. Everybody is
generating ideas at an incredible rate. Generally
speaking, one can see a confusion taking place
after the storm of abstractions and the search
for identity. Identity is thinning out, as Koolhaas
would suggest, and there’s also a mass pro-
duction of identity noise. If a new generation of
designers wishes to adress an audience, i.e. their
clients, with the expectation of being heard, they
should learn to communicate their work in an
intelligent and evocative way. The finX approach
tries to rediscover original vehicles for meaning
and how they can be constructed, to edit them
into communicative new meaning. Meaning means
very little now, and specially students are easily
confused by the amount of possible interpreta-
tions to a given subject. FinX tries to give a tool
for orchestrating intended spatial and material
experiences.
B- for each associated element goes the same
(objects in category 2). C- In the middle you end
up with an amount of associated elements.
D- By critical selection you reduce these ele-
ments to those that comply to the set of criteria.
E- The chosen elements are synthesized into a
new meaningful element (the derivative object).
LECTURES 1 - 2 - 3 To introduce this scheme into
the realm of three dimensional design, three lec-
tures are prepared. The lecture on textual mean-
ing introduces basics of communication, language,
idiom and syntax, and how they can be seen as
a flexible system of signification. The lecture on
visual meaning skips through history to explain the
development and the logic of visuals. The lecture
on shape and meaning introduces design intents
and results, and the criteria by which they can be
discussed. Gradually design expression and design
media are introduced. Meaning and construction
become understandable elements of design.
EXERCISES 1 - 2 - 3 Based on the same subjects,
three excercises were developped. At all times
communicating a meaning is the norm. The first
exercise, finX1, is a textual exercise. An
easy one to get acquainted with the structure.
FinX2 is a visual exercise. It demands more
creativity in association. In finX3 a three
dimensional object is chosen, de- and recom-
posed. Sculptural expression is the goal. The
synthesis, or finX4, forges the results of
the exercises into a conceptual model. This is
not an architectural design, but a complex object
using textual, visual and sculptural expression.
They have all the aspects of an architectural model
(colour, texture, composition) except one :
programme.
BRAIN STORM FinX tries to give a frame for
analysis and proposal: de-construction and re-con-
struction. This scheme is a scalelessly structured
brain-storm. It allows one to cross the line of
evident solutions. A- any element (a primitive
object) can be described by an acceptable set of
associated elements (objects in category 1), and
D
ABSTRACTION
CONCRETIONfin X 1 - fin X 2 - fin X 3 - synthesis
YONDER =
primitive
HORIZON =
FATE =
HOPE =
GOAL =
DEPTH
BORDER
DISTANCE
SUN-DOWN >
DECREE
DESTINATION
LUCK
CHANCE
FAITH
FUTURE >
WISH
EXPECTATION
RESULT >
USE
INTENT >
PLAN
N: SUN-DOWN }
E: FUTURE }
C1: RESULT }
C2: INTENT } AFRODISIAC
derivative
< “The INTENTion for the FUTURE is to improve the RESULT of the SUN-DOWN.” >
N: nature, E: experiment, C1: culture, C2: communication
finX1
primitive subject background detail derivative
finX2
primitive primary volumes & boolean operations derivative
ENVELOPE
ENVELOPE
ROTATION
SUBSTRACTION
finX3synthesis
AFRODISIAC + + +
?
finX1 finX2 finX3 finX4
lecture1:languageandmeaninglecture2:imageandmeaninglecture3:shapeandmeaning
idiom allows us
to signify our
environment and
share our expe-
riences.
duct conduit,
pipe, canal,
tube, channel,
passage
pro - duce
bring - forth
grammar allows
us to construct
new meaning in
our changing
environment.
produce make
product yield
production
making
prefix:
pro = for
as opposed to:
anti = against
no word for ice
1word for water
20 words for
ice
20 words for
water
performance . . .
style . . . . . . .
representation . . . . . topology . . .
technique . . . . .
A
B
C
D
E
ornament . . . icon . . .
reference . . . reality . . .
fiction . . .
2. O
L
N
cab42
ARCHITECTURE : STRATEGY, DESIGN
OPDRACHT - Concept and design strategy
OPDRACHTGEVER - Rotterdam Academy of
Architecture and Willem de Kooning Acad-
emy of Arts, Helsinki faculty of Architecture.
REALISATIE - permanently under construction
OPMERKINGEN - Design strategy for third
and forth year students of architecture and
interior, including concepting and elaboration
of given assignment. E X A M P L E S
INTRODUCTION The finX approach consists of
three exercises and a synthesis. The exercises
follow the logic of the scheme but the synthesis
has no method. By going through the exercises,
students are forced to propose and discuss tex-
tual, as well as visual and three dimensional mean-
ing and communication. The work frame is quite
strict, but the content is completely free. Anything
can be chosen, analysed and proposed, as long
as its comprehensible for the group. For textual
communication this is usually no problem. The
resulting phrases of finX1 often resemble evoca-
tive haikus. Visual communication of finX2 is all-
ready more difficult and personal, but can still
be discussed within general consensus. Three
dimensional communication of finX3 is much more
abstract for many, but elementary spacial notions,
such as shape, proportion and scale, soon become
the subject of evaluation. The group discusses the
characteristics of certain types of spaces. Gradu-
ally meaning and construction become controlable
elements of design.
TWO PROJECTS On this page there are two
projects. The first shows the steps taken to
achieve a conceptual model. The second shows
how the conceptual model is elaborated into a
complete design. The scheme illustrated on the
first page, is active in the whole process of con-
cepting. The elaboration of the conceptual model is
an application of the model to a given assignment.
FINX1 The first language exercise, by student Tom
van Odijk, considers words taken form a poem
on the city of Rotterdam. The word ‘city’, leads
to ‘business’, ‘internationality’, ‘massiveness’, etc.
etc.. In the end the three resulting words are
joined in a phrase : “realising is the courageous
salvation of our existence”, which in turn is char-
acterised by the word ‘confrontation’. The source
text, in this case the poem, has been ‘uncon-
sciously evaluated’, and has delivered the notion
of confrontation. This notion will be transferred to
the synthesis.
FINX2 The image exercise starts with an image
chosen within the context of the assignment,
in this case an information centre for the city.
As a reference is chosen the lobby of the
Nederlands Architectuur Institute. The image is
de-constructed and re-constructed in images of
constructions, city-scape backgrounds, and lob-
bies. The three images that are chosen, the
bridge, the cantileved space and the duo-seats,
are characterised by one image : a rooftop swim-
mingpool with a view of the skyline. It becomes
clear that the original picture has been evaluated
as a space for distant reflection on the city. This
notion will be transferred to the synthesis.
FINX 3 The last excercise introduces formal pref-
erences. A chosen object form the context of
the assignment is formally de-constructed, in this
case a city trash can. After some basic sculpting
finX3, the text follows the results form finX1
and the images come from finX2. It’s a model; it
could be a building, but this model is meant for
an interior. The model should not be seen as a
literal spatial model. It is has to be interpreted
for its meaning and it’s representative logic.
INTERPRETATION The model is an organisation of
representations: an escape to survive (the white
volume) that pierces through layers of mundaine
humdrum (the transparent images), and stems
from a earthly basis (the cortin steel base).
These representations are translated into ‘char-
acters’. Most important was to know how the
experience of each element played a part in the
experience of the whole. The model for architec-
ture becomes meaningfull.
PROGRAMMING When each element had a char-
acter, the next step was to translate these
characters into dwelling activities. The Source
became the most intimate space, the Navigation
was used as circulation system, and the Resist-
ance was translated into all the boring daily task
spaces, such as work and kitchen etc.. With each
programmatic choice, a preference for materials
was found.
DESIGN Plan and section emerged and were
improved within the limits of the assignment and
the intended experience. Materials were chosen
in correspondence with the intended characters
of the separated space-elemements. Making all
this work for practical circumstances and techni-
cal criteria rounds up the assignment where the
spatial and material experience can be present
found, even in the details.
SYNTHESIS 2 The conceptual model made by stu-
dent Jan Geert de Bruin, shows a large white
trapezoid volume, towering from two horizontal
layers. One layer is a transparant layer with
images of advertisement and commercials, the
layer underneath is a solid layer made of rusted
cortin steel. The shapes follow the results form
noun: city
phrase: ”buildings based on the
24-7 lifestyle reflect the chances
of diversity.”
derivative: salvation
selection: ‘24-7 lifestyle’, chances,
buildings, diversity.
verb: to strawl
selection: experience, dream, talk
phrase: ”by talking and experiencingdreams one is inspired.”derivative: to realise
inspire.
adjective: exciting
phrase : ”looking for the uncontrolable
and uncertain
derivative : courageous
selection : enticing, uncontrolable,
surpassing, unknown.
surpasses the enticing.”
phrase: ”realising is the courageous
salvation of our existence.”
derivative: CONFRONTATION
contents by
Tom van Odijk
dd 06.06.02
finX1
primitive
beam1>beam2beam3
seats2
seats1
seats3>
tower3>tower2
tower1
subject background detail derivative
lobby with
and tower in the
back
beam overhead
rooftop pool
deckchairs and skyline
with
finX2finX3
primitive derivative
contents by
Tom van Odijk
dd 06.06.02
synthesis
contents by
Tom van Odijk
dd 06.06.02
synthesis
interpretationprogrammingdesign
contents by
Jan Geert de Bruin
dd 21.01.03
contents by
Tom van Odijk
dd 06.06.02
TRASH CAN
ROUNDED CONEINTERLOCKING WITHEXCAVATED TRAPEZIUM
relaxed retreat
CONFRONTATION :
“analyse - relate”
... and skyline
to take a reflexive distance
“ survive “
visual media noise
red earth
to break through the hype and fly
The central vaulted space
found in a Palladian villa.
1.source 2.navigation 3.resistance 4.survive 5.growing
1.
2.
3.
4.
Section becomes
circulation.
Activity and materials linked
Section is programmed
Private programme, breaks through circulation,
breaks through resistant activity.
Plan and colour scheme.
Model 1 : 100 Details 1 : 20 & 1 : 5
and puzzling the resulting object has two intwined
volumes, both triangular, but one is rounded and
the other is rectangular. This notion will be trans-
ferred to the synthesis.
SYNTHESIS 1 In the synthesis we see a hollow cone
illustrated with sleeping people on the inside and
mirrorring on the outside. It mirrors the words
‘analysis’ and ‘relate’. These words fill up the space
between the cope and the triangle illustrated with
the skyline, i.e. the city. The model suggests
already solutions for future design questions but
it is not yet a design. It is open to interpretation
within certain boundaries. It definitely has a mean-
ing, but it doesn’t have a fixed form yet.
finX4/Pijnacker2002
finX4/Franx2002
finX4/Rameckers2002
finX4/Toebast2002
finX4/deRidder2002
finX4/vanWoerkom2002
SYNTHESIS RESULTS AT THE WILLEM DE KOONING ACADEMY 1ST SEMESTER 2002
5.